Overtourism in Religious Places: Is It a Myth or a Journey towards Faith, a Reflection from Golden Triangle (Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark) of Odisha, India

Abstract

Overtourism is an emerging concept and a perennial process every destination is going through. It is a cyclic phenomenon derived from the destination, retained in the destination and at last demised by the destination. It's a kind of ‘tourism illness’ spreading rapidly in every destination in the present scenario. The status of overtourism in every destination has been caused by the tourist, of the tourist and for the tourist. In the context of religious places in Odisha, overtourism is a ‘disorder’ that cannot be mitigated, as religiosity, faith and spiritualism have propelled and governed people's sentiment and emotion. Hence ambiguity arises out of making an intrigue situation between a myth or a spiritual sojourn bounded by faith and belief. This chapter significantly contributes by unfolding the existing literature by providing the origin and evolution of overtourism, various stated definitions by the different authors, causes and consequences, and overtourism in religious destinations by adopting an exploratory study, particularly in case of the Golden triangle of Odisha.

Citation

Mohanty, P.P. and Mishra, N. (2021), "Overtourism in Religious Places: Is It a Myth or a Journey towards Faith, a Reflection from Golden Triangle (Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark) of Odisha, India", Sharma, A. and Hassan, A. (Ed.) Overtourism as Destination Risk (Tourism Security-Safety and Post Conflict Destinations), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 235-260. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83909-706-520211016